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Diamond passes git you through a que quicker? For any body? Why was we not told. Like some one had said, jump que on any one?

I missed a few people because I was not aware about people on other levels. They would have seen more people if they were all on one level

 

Because when Diamond Passes got you through a queue that was non Diamond that was an error, that's why you were not told.

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Genuine non-snarky question: I've been attending the last 4 or so years, sometimes summer, other times winter. I didn't get to summer this year, so having not seen it with my own eyes, is it worth travelling a long distance without going gold or diamond? I can't really afford to spend a lot on one guest (after travel, hotel etc) and I'd hate to travel hours having bought a ticket and not meet someone. Would it still be worth it?

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Genuine non-snarky question: I've been attending the last 4 or so years, sometimes summer, other times winter. I didn't get to summer this year, so having not seen it with my own eyes, is it worth travelling a long distance without going gold or diamond? I can't really afford to spend a lot on one guest (after travel, hotel etc) and I'd hate to travel hours having bought a ticket and not meet someone. Would it still be worth it?

 

Depends who you want to meet really. The only massive guest I met this year was Sigourney Weaver with my diamond pass....But eliminate her from the equation and I still had an absolute blast. I met :-

 

Kelly Hu

Reeve Carney

Harry Treadaway

Simon Russell Beale

France Lee McCain

Marc McClure

Tom Savini

Neve Campbell

Jennifer Rubin

James Tolkan

Carrie Henn

James Remar

(Had a photoshoot with Michael J Fox and Michael Gambon too)

 

Did all these without a Goldpass so I'd say it's worth it :smile: Just normal entry and about halfway down in the queue each morning for me.

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Oh dear as a Customer Service Manager myself reading some of your responses Jason to customers concerns and issues is making me cringe!

 

All customers concerns and issues are valid and you have to keep your own personal thoughts and feelings out of your responses as otherwise they come across as being very defensive, arrogant and unprofessional.

 

If you keep on doing that you will only alienate your customer base and start losing attendees because of it.

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I would like to start by saying that by the looks of all the reports we heard about the Saturday, I am actually quite glad now we were only there on the Sunday :smile:.

 

 

Cutting the number of people down by filtering out the real fans, from the I just fancy a day out kinda people. Having weekend passes only maybe?? No single day passes? Say £80 for a whole weekend pass, with no single ticket days, maybe the people who are not "real" fans might think, nah, I'm not gonna pay that to go for all 3 days or on the flip side, won't pay it if they're only thinking of doing 1 or 2 days. Just an idea. May make more space for us dedicated folks.

 

I'm sorry I take your comments as rather rude & insulting to be honest. :no: First you say you were only there for the one day and then call people who did the same not "real" fans. Can you explain how you can say you are dedicated folks considering you only went for one day? What about people who have jobs/children/commitments? How would they manage to go all weekend? I myself worked at the local student union from 7pm to midnight on the friday then was back working for the Next sale at 3:30am til midday. (I work for a crowd management/door security firm) So no way would I have been able to go for all 3 days, that's why I went Sunday.

 

Not everyone can afford to book into a hotel for 3 days, some people might decide at the last minute to go to the con when a particular guest is announced and only want to go the day they are there. For me and my g/f to visit the con cost us £35 train fare and £32.50 for tickets. We also spent about £100 for our cosplay outfits. For someone who only works part time that is a big chunk of my salary. It was our first con and I was into the cosplay, my g/f is into the artwork for the comics etc. We might not be 'dedicated folks' as you call us, but our money is as good as yours.

 

 

It's seems I may of upset a few people. First of all, I am sorry, not my intention and second of all, a lot of people on the forum seem to be complaining that there were to many people attending over the 3 days, so let me ask you this........ How do YOU think we should cut the numbers down????

 

Yes, me and my husband only went for 1 day this year, for personal reasons, but on other years we have been for 2 days and next year, plan on doing all 3 (which we are currently saving for now).

 

When I talk about dedicated fans, I mean the people who are there cause they actually want to meet the guests, go to talks, get involved with cosplay etc, because as I understand it, isn't that what it's supposed to be about???

 

As my husband mentioned, there did seem to be a lot of people there this year who were just wondering around, not really sure where they were going and I don't think it's cause they were newbies, I believe it's because they went thinking, "Oh, this looks like a good day out, something different, don't really know what it's all about, might run into a few famous people if i'm lucky without having to pay money.............

 

Showmasters says every year how they want to make it bigger and better, brilliant, I'm all for it. Bigger and better also means more people attending and probably tickets being more expensive. In 3 years we have gone from 2 full days and 1 half, to next year with the potential of running for 3 full days and 1 half, so answer me this............ Where on earth in London do you think showmasters will be able to find a venue to hold such an event, when Olympia reaches it's capacity????? San Diego runs for 5 full days I think it is and the whole city basically shuts down for it! It becomes Comic Con. So, what do ya do. Do you year on year make it bigger and bigger, till it gets so big it collapse's in on itself or do you scale it back slightly now before it's to late.

 

I have always wanted to go to San Diego for Comic Con, but from what I hear, you have got to be very very lucky to even get a ticket and that's not just because of the price. Do any of us want LFCC to become like that???

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Diamond passes git you through a que quicker? For any body? Why was we not told. Like some one had said, jump que on any one?

I missed a few people because I was not aware about people on other levels. They would have seen more people if they were all on one level

 

Because when Diamond Passes got you through a queue that was non Diamond that was an error, that's why you were not told.

 

Which begs the question, why didn't the crew know this wasn't the way it worked? I understood Diamond would only be priority for the guest it relates to, it was made clear on here so if I knew I don't understand how the crew managed to get things like this wrong when it's their job. Same with not collecting VTs. I still have all of mine, could easily have been reused. Not once did anyone ask to take it when I joined a queue. It's basic stuff. We know how it should work so why don't they?

 

It's things like this that really need tightening up and can cause problems, especially as the show gets bigger, with many more people to manage everyone really needs to know exactly how things work and what each pass/ticket allows. Basic, basic stuff.

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I would like to mention as others have that I agree with Jasons point that the diamond passes for the event got the bigger names like MJF and sigourney weaver, but I dont understand why christopher lloyd and even bill paxton were in this bracket as you have had christopher lloyd before if I recall and £35 which is a reasonable price just seems odd for a guest that has a diamond package attached. Christopher lloyds price was affordable for me and other general pass holders and seems a shame anyone that cant afford the diamond pass could'nt get it.

Im wondering if you did the diamond pass last year would I have not been able to get Ralph macchios auto and michael bienn as they may have had diamond passes attatched.

I think the level of guests was amazing and show masters have done a great job.

I think however the website in future should not advertise such guests as christopher lloyd with £35 for an autograph as effectively it should just say the amount for a diamond package for getting his autograph, as it gets peoples hopes up and is misleading. I appreciate before the event It may not have been known it would only be diamond passes getting an auto but in future I think it would be good to make prices clearer on what you can realistically expect.

Other than this point I really appreciate the hard work of jason and the team and did enjoy the day.

 

 

if you remember that the last two times Christopher Lloyd attended he worked very hard to try to get through the lines for him and he did not manage it , we had a lot of feed back and people that were unhappy they did not get his autograph and had came from along way away to get it and went home with out it , so putting a diamond pass ticket for him meant that if you really wanted to guarantee his autograph you could by buying one , we only offered a limited number of these and not all sold out but they were there so if someone really wanted to guarantee his autograph they could , your point of other guests from the past would they be a diamond pass no days is a lost point as we had Jonathan price who you might think would fit this pass bracket but as Jonathan can cope well with his demented we did not feel the need to make him a diamond pass guest and we were right in that disision so we will only make a guest a diamond pass guest if we think the demand is going to be so great we feel we want to make available some guaranteed autographs or if a guest costs demented we have a diamond pass to help cover there costs , if Stan Lee was to happen now he would have been a diamond pass guest and everyone that wanted to have a guaranteed autograph would have the chance to buy one , this works and its how we will be doing things moving forward but there will still be many many guests that will be none diamond pass guests , we think there will be around 4 to 6 at the big events each time going forward but only if there is the need to ok :-)

 

jason

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I don't understand this hate being generated for the gold pass.

 

The argument is that I have spent £225 on a gold pass and someone else has spent £x on a day/weekend pass. Both people have a chance of getting a VQ ticket for a Diamond guest. So what is the point in spending £225? If you are going to an event just for that one person then yes a gold pass is not for you.

 

I am under the distinct impression that the people who are complaining are those that genuinely collect autographs. A diamond guest is going to be someone that has an aura, someone whose work means a lot to many people. In this case legends relating to BTTF and Aliens. Surely you buy a pass to meet that person because you simply have too. Only the individual can describe what that means to them, regardless they will feel the price tag totally justifiable. My point is the idea is not to buy a diamond pass just because they are a big name guest. The gold pass enables you to meet these people after the priority is given to those who believe its something off their bucket list (so to speak).

 

I was a gold pass holder and did not buy any diamond passes. This was a complete mistake on my part. Honestly what put me off was the comic gold/comic silver/gold passes/silver pass fiasco last year. It was very confusing and I thought the Diamond could have been of the same ilk. How wrong was I and Showmaster's put together an excellent package.

 

When the guests were announced I just had to buy photo shoots with MJF (in delorean) and Sigourney with the power loader. I had to buy the BTTF reunion and Aliens talk tickets. I went straight away to get VQ tickets upon (10 min early) entry and because of my Gold Pass I had autograph's for Christopher Lloyd on the Friday and Sigourney on the Sunday. It was my decision to chance autograph's by using the gold pass as I felt this was less of a priority than the photo shoots. I knew MJF would be out of the question for obvious reasons. It is going to be a life long regret not going to his talk.

 

The gold pass made the above stress free and enjoyable and arguably that can only be achieved with a gold pass. Every other benefit of the gold pass existed throughout the event.

 

I am afraid the price point argument is irrelevant. Im sorry but that's life. When money was tight for me I simply couldn't entertain the idea of even looking at events like this. Bills came first and I simply watched taped BTTF and Aliens instead. Fans save their money for this.

 

And as for rocking up at noon, walking straight to Ms Weaver to get an autograph simply because I have a gold pass, the name and the event is too big for that.

 

You're missing the point autograph wise..You could easily get autographs from the non-diamond pass guests as most of them had open queues, so a gold pass didn't give you any help there and for diamond pass guests you needed a VQ ticket, again no gold pass help there. So the gold pass has become pretty useless for the autograph collectors.

 

For photoshoots the same thing. Yeah, you go in first, but if you buy your photoshoots quick enough, which is now extra easy with Etickets being sold, you'll get batch 1 tickets, who go straight after the golds, so you won't be waiting that much longer either.

 

Goodie bag had a few old trinkets, Chill out room consists of a few tables, chairs, sweets and water and was closed during talks, photoshoot vouchers were handy thanks to the last minute rule change, but autograph vouchers were useless.

 

So no, I didn't think I got value for money on the gold pass this year, unlike last year when that pass actually helped with the biggest guests. So I hope next year improvements will be made to make that pass worth it again.

 

 

I am sorry i think you miss the point gold passes will normally get in first that will not change going forward and infant we may even extend the early entry more on this soon but there is great value in that as you can pick up all your VQ tickets and that is priceless

 

If the gold pass dose not work for you and you feel it has no value thats fine but i will remind you we did sell a lot of them the week before the show and that in the end we did sell out of them by the days of the show and the feed back is that they are very useful.

 

people talk about the sweets in the gold's room or how big that is or the goody bag is but that is just titbits the value is getting in to the lines at the back with out having to get a VQ ticket and the diamond pass guests you get access to these guests first so if you wear you can get a VQ ticket , thats the value and i know many of you know this and see is for what it is.

 

jason

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I get the feeling that DP Holders getting called First for non DP Photo Shoots was probably an error due to miscommunication or misunderstanding by the Crew running the Area where it was happening...

 

 

I have mentioned before maybe Fans (not us) could be set by Shoot Areas to cool the queuing.

 

 

For Future Reference where were the Toilets outside. :)

 

Jason, any thought on the Smoking issue in the Queue? I know it is probably not in your remit. but interested in your thoughts ideas anyway.

 

 

we will look into this as i do have to say things on here are sometimes said but in reality we find no evidence of such things but as we have not had a debrief from all departments i cannot comment with 100% suraty as i was not everywhere at once :-) but its should not have been called up that way on a none DP guest and i do not understand why anyone would even think to call up Dimond passes for a guest that dose not have one ? its all a little odd , as i say its not what should happen and it sounds odd to me so let me look into that but its not what will ever happen on my watch :-D

 

jason

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Hi everyone

Well that was a blast, and what a lot of work that was to put on.

 

As is normal, there were a few issues we feel we need to share with you all. I have seen from last year that a few of you still feel the need to start to say we do not care or we are deliberately not responding to you when the facts is that the show does not end for us when you all leave at 6pm on Sunday. We have to get everything we have built out of the venue by the next day and we also have to look after all of our guests and get them home whether it be in LA or Glasgow, we have to look after that. Then we also have to load the trucks to get everything we have built back to our warehouse's etc, and then when they are back there we have to unload them so it does take us two or three days to get that part of the show put to bed. Then there is the photos to upload and any refunds to do also, so there is a lot of different things that has to happen before we can come on here and comment.

 

We do care a lot, and more that most to get the events working right for you all and to give many of you the best days you could possibly have at a comic con. We are in a state of growing and with such growth there are growing pains, we do learn and we do managed to fix things and we rarely have the same problem twice.

 

So to the event itself.

 

Selling out meant we did not have any walk-ups and this meant there was space to queue you all outside of the building. In the past a lot of the queuing space was taken up with an amount of people that we could not guess would be there so this has caused issues in the past at this event, but this did not happen this year and we feel this will not happen again as the event will be a sell out going forward.

 

Getting everyone in to the show in a safe and timely manner is important to us and after 9am when the doors opened on Saturday it was on average about 55 minutes from the back of the line to get it, and the door line was totally in by 1pm with people turning up throughout the day. On Sunday it was around 40 minutes this was a fair entrance time for so many of you. Going forward we will have both large ground halls, so we plan to use the entrance of the Grand Hall as that door will work even better to get everyone in a little faster.

 

This year we arranged for food and water and toilets to be available to people in the queue before the doors opened, something that was needed and we felt the queuing and entrance this time was much better than last year's event.

 

YALC, Goldpass and disable entrance on Saturday, there were some teething problems. We could not get our scanners to scan all ticket types and this did create a delay with less people going through via a scanner that we would have liked, and then we had the disable lift stop working to get people over the 3 steps going into the lobby. So we had to direct disable people to the other entrance where they were let in right away, so they did not have to get into the big queue, but these two things did slow down the line on Saturday. Also with the scanners not all working on all tickets the ones we had did have had to work harder and that meant that we got a little behind getting the YALC passes process and everyone wrist banded, the scanners were fixed for Sunday and things went very well on Sunday morning without any issues we could see.

 

Going into the layout of the hall there were some things that did catch us out, and I will go into these now. This was our first time using these halls, and as such things do not always go how you think they will go and things also change, and these things create unexpected issues that we have to overcome on the day. Our first issue was the organisers booth, our main hub for information, this was to originally be on the lower ground floor. We started to get feedback that there was some big issues with one or two of our main guests in getting to some of the photo shoot areas and some of the activities they were involved with, and we saw that there was a need to move both a photo shoot and some access to it and also change around some of the prop photo shoots also. This was asked of us on the Friday morning and as such it was a very last minute thing for us to get in place and get approved in time for the opening, this change of location was very much needed and did work on the days of the show, but communicating this to the public could have been better and informing the crew could also have been better but time was not with us to be able to do this and it's something unlikely to happen again as such a big move of feature location is rare. Our organisers booth was moved upstairs instead of being a part of the sales desk which was what was planned originally. In future it will be located where it has always been just inside the mine doors , this will give everyone a clear place to go to and get the info you need fast and clear from one place.

 

Diamond passes really worked well, the people that bought these passes are the people that made it possible to get these guests. I did hear one or two people say that it's unfair that Diamond pass holders got priority, but I am sorry its exactly what they should get as Diamond pass holders all paid upfront and their money paid to underwrite these big guests. In the past it would have been impossible to book these guests in so it is totally right to have given these helpful fans these advantages, and I think we can all see why we need these passes so we can go forward and book more guests of this level for future events and that's exactly what we are going to do. It worked so well we have more confidence to really go for it on these mega guests so watch this space.

 

 

Signage, stairwells and access. Signage is normally provided by the venue but we produced more than we normally produce to help people get around, but being our first event in this venue we did not expect to be using the stairwells on floors 1, 2, 3 and the ones that were going to be used would be not expected to be that busy. But things changed for us on Friday when one of the lifts that was needed to unload the top floor for another event, and then at the same time another lift both broke down leaving us only 2 out of the 4 lifts working, so stairs came into play in a big way.

 

Friday was fine and we felt they worked well, people took some time getting to know where they all were but it settled in quite well and people did start to get to know the venue which is what happens for everyone at a new venue. But on Saturday when nearly everyone was in the building security felt that the lower halls were close to being full but they could see on CCTV that the upper halls were still quite empty, they decided to send the last of the front door into the lifts in the Gold pass entrance and let the last ticket holders enter into the show on the 3rd floor. With hindsight this was not a good decision as it meant that these people saw they were on the top floor and wanted to get to the bottom floor and as such made their way down the lifts and stairs right away, and this created a flow of people wanting to go down the lifts and stairs and a build up of people using the stairs in the right hand side stairwell.

 

As soon as we knew of this issue we went over to put some controls in place to make it work and take the pressure of this stairwell. When I got there I could see the other stairwell was empty and I saw a few people that had been trying to get up or down had been in a line for around 10 minutes, and some were getting a little impatient, but as soon as I pointed to the other stairwell and informed them that the other stairwell was empty they all move over and it was soon cleared. The signs for the other stairwell were very clear above the stairwell but I just think people were not looking for another route down, this was the only real stairwell issue and once it was resolved it did not happen again. Sunday was free of any issues as people had started to find their way around the venue better.

 

One other thing, as soon as we saw there was issue we also get the service lifts manned and started to open these up for the public also, this will be something we will be using from the start going forward as this did help and worked well and helped to make it much easier for people to use the upper halls which were very good spaces for lower foot fall activities.

 

As to the main staircase up to level 1, it was decided by the security and ourselves to make it one way at the busiest point of the day so it helped with the flow. There were a lot of people sitting on the floor and this did create some time delays in getting some guests from A to B so this was a bit of a issue. A rest zone is being considered so visitors sit in the walk ways less, so this can be fixed for next year's show.

 

The venue, I think the venue is good for Comic Con and with next year getting another 40% extra space this will work very well. This year it was a little tight and that was down to it being new to us and working out how the space worked for the first time. Moving forward we will get into how to best use the space, and use it better, we plan to keep the traders the amount we had this year and do not expect to increase them so that the 40% increase in space will be used more for space for getting around, for features and making more queuing space for photo ops and guests, that way it will make it more pleasant for everyone attending the show.

Communication between crew and the fans
This year with the last minute moving of photo shoots and delays created with getting guests from point A to point B we did also see odd times where there was a breakdown of communication, we see this was an issue and we will get this fixed for next year, most of this was created by last minute changes that we do not feel will happen again, so this will be fix for next years event.

 

Going forward for 2016

 

With the move now complete we can get into the venue and really make it work better for you all, we plan to have more free things for you all to do and be a part of. We feel an extra day will also help to get the things you want out of Comic Con so do expect the preview to move to Thursday and the Friday will become a full on open day with full guest line up.

 

The Super Stage will become used more, and with more free talks. There are plans for more screenings next year, something that we were not that lucky with getting production companies to get involved with this year.

We do feel we need more crew than ever, and we plan to increase this so you have more people on site to help you with your day. These amazing people are just like you, fans that take time to help make the event happen. They all do their very best to get everything right but with so many of you and such a big event it has to be expected that some info will not be known at the event. I can reassure you that all our crew will get to know the venue better, and will be totally aware of where things are moving forward, as I have already said, things had to change on the Friday with the layout and this did not help them to be able to do their job, but we will be better next time.

Anyway I hope that helps to answer some of your points, I hope you can see we are improving and will keep on improving each year to make your experience better, at the end of the day we are all fans and we are here to give you one of the best weekend of the year and have fun at London Film and Comic Con.

 

Thanks you for your understanding and support.

 

Jason

ps
One thing i forgot to say we will have a App that will update you all and inform you over the days of any changes that happen , this was to be ready for this event but we could not get it to the standard we need ready in time but this will be ready for 2016 LFCC

 

 

 

 

I would like to start by saying that by the looks of all the reports we heard about the Saturday, I am actually quite glad now we were only there on the Sunday :smile:.

 

 

Cutting the number of people down by filtering out the real fans, from the I just fancy a day out kinda people. Having weekend passes only maybe?? No single day passes? Say £80 for a whole weekend pass, with no single ticket days, maybe the people who are not "real" fans might think, nah, I'm not gonna pay that to go for all 3 days or on the flip side, won't pay it if they're only thinking of doing 1 or 2 days. Just an idea. May make more space for us dedicated folks.

 

I'm sorry I take your comments as rather rude & insulting to be honest. :no: First you say you were only there for the one day and then call people who did the same not "real" fans. Can you explain how you can say you are dedicated folks considering you only went for one day? What about people who have jobs/children/commitments? How would they manage to go all weekend? I myself worked at the local student union from 7pm to midnight on the friday then was back working for the Next sale at 3:30am til midday. (I work for a crowd management/door security firm) So no way would I have been able to go for all 3 days, that's why I went Sunday.

 

Not everyone can afford to book into a hotel for 3 days, some people might decide at the last minute to go to the con when a particular guest is announced and only want to go the day they are there. For me and my g/f to visit the con cost us £35 train fare and £32.50 for tickets. We also spent about £100 for our cosplay outfits. For someone who only works part time that is a big chunk of my salary. It was our first con and I was into the cosplay, my g/f is into the artwork for the comics etc. We might not be 'dedicated folks' as you call us, but our money is as good as yours.

 

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been reading through this thread and there have been some AMAZING points made. figured I would weigh in on a few things.

 

 

1. overcrowding.

I get the feeling that on paper the building wasn't overcrowded and that the max capacity of the venue was not exceeded, HOWEVER, (I may be wrong about this) but aren't capacities worked out using an empty room? i.e. no vendors/guest tables etc. the floorspace used up by the guest tables, photoshoot areas and vendor's stands dramatically reduced the overall floor space available to the punters, which I think is why it seemed even more crowded than usual.

 

2. outside queuing.

I actually think this was handled well on the Saturday and that the zig-zag layout around the side of the building up past pizza express worked well. Sunday's queue was worse for me, as it was a large rabble inside the grand hall which then filtered out through a single double doorway and down the side of the building. im not sure why they didn't just do the same routine as the Saturday.

my only other gripe with the queuing was people smoking while in line. as a non-smoker that wasn't a pleasant experience, although that isn't really within showmasters ability to control.

 

3. air conditioning.

the air con was DEFINITELY working when I attended on the Saturday and sunday, HOWEVER with so many doors being open all the cold air just escaped. level 3 (where the GoT guests were) wasn't too bad, but the other floors had pretty much no cool air running through them. keeping the doors shut would have greatly improved the effect the air con had.

 

4. layout

this was my biggest gripe about the weekend. guests in 3 or 4 different places, photoshoots all over the shop and vendors smack in the middle made it very difficult to move around the venue. if you have more space next year please keep things simple. guests in one place. photoshoot areas in another etc etc.

the downstairs shoot areas were so close to stalls at the end of the rows it was almost impossible to get through because the queues for shoots were mixing in with the crowds and blocking things off. add to that the difficulty of going up or down to different levels and it became a near impossible task to navigate between places.

 

5. signing.

relating to the layout I do believe that there needs to be better signage for where things are at the con. the "You are here" ideas that others mentioned is a stroke of genius and should be implemented ASAP

 

6. Diamond Passes

diamond passes are an EXCELLENT idea, however I do believe that there should be a "full experience", which includes autographs, photoshoots, talks etc for those who want the full package, but also a smaller one for those who just want an autograph and maybe one photo. I wasn't particularly interested in the diamond guests this year (not to say im not a fan, but I just didn't want to meet them) but if there were a diamond guest who I considered a must have I wouldn't be too interested in the different photoshoots and talks and stuff, however i'd LOVE to have an auto and a quick snap with the guest. maybe a "diamond pass 1 and 2" system could be implemented.

 

7. SOME (not all) Blueshirts.

PLEASE dedicate more time into explaining where things are at your next event to the volunteers who help out. its excellent that people are willing to give up their time to help out with LFCC, but some seemed to have no idea where things were, or how things were organised. at one point on the sunday I got bounced around 3 or 4 different blueshirts trying to find where a photoshoot was.

 

8. Seating

up on the balcony there was a lot of spare wall space. would it be possible to have chairs along walls that aren't being used to allow people to sit down easily without having to go into the super stage or YALC areas etc. go from standing to the floor and then standing back up takes its toll, especially on those with mobility issues.

 

 

despite getting far too hot I REALLY enjoyed my days at the con and my friend (LFCC was her first con) enjoyed it as well.

its great that the event is getting bigger however I do feel that the issues people have mentioned in this thread NEED to be addressed as soon as possible.

 

 

 

 

 

thank you for your points but i will say we address all points every year thats why the issue we had last year have gone away but new issues are here this year , we improve and rethink things every year we are on the case and we learn and improve as we have been for the past 10 years we will keep on learning and improving , this year was harder to prodiect as it was our first time in all these halls but we will get ti right so you and us all have a better time doing what we love

 

jason :-)

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Reading through posts (not picking out anyone in particular but in general), its beginning to feel very us and them... almost Upper Class (Diamond and gold) & the very lowly lower class of standard entrance. I completely agree that DP &GP pay for everything they get & deserve priority, have no issue with this at all but standard attendees also pay alot of money & deserve to get what they paid for too & enjoy the event too.

 

It's not okay to miss out on photoshoot that you have paid for just because you couldn't also afford GP to get you through quicker. There seems to be some insinuation in some posts (not SM) that if you were a real fan you would get DP or GP. I am a real fan of MJF, I brought a photoshoot and was delighted with that. It doesn't mean I am less of a fan than people that brought a DP, just that I have a different budget!

 

As I said, I have absolutely no issue with DP & GP & what they get....but I do have an issue with being marginalised or looked down on for being standard entry. I paid more for this con than any other I have ever attended & we help make it all happen too & deserve to enjoy it as much as anyone else!

 

Just thoughts...

 

 

 

its so not a class thing many people that have diamond passes have put everything they can into the ticket and the weekend i know this for shore , Dimond passes are people that want to be guaranteed to get what they have wanted for a very long time and are happy to help make it posable for it to happen for the show and for themselves , it is totally nothing to do with class or money , gold also are big collectors and some spend there money on these passes and autographs instead of a holiday as thats what they prefer , again is not a class thing or a money thing , we look out for all fans out there and that goes to the hart of what we are here at showmasters and is our ethos not everyone here is well off or has always had money so we look out and do the best we can for the masses not the few , but it has to be fare for everyone and diamonds and golds to help us give things away to everyone to enjoy

 

jason

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I wish you'd stop calling it a comic con, it's gone from having a load of comic guests and colmic orientated to just tv and film with a few comic guests shoved in with the stalls :(

Did you visit level 2?

 

yes.. but that was mainly books and authors, not comic book artists and guests and writers etc.

 

 

 

yes there was only 35 comic artist there , sorry there is only one Stan Lee :-(

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half was books, half was comics.

 

yeah, but for a "comic con" it should be at least 40% of the convention, not about 7-8% lol

 

 

I am sorry were is that in the rules of Comic Cons world wide guid ? there is no such rule and as we have 130 tv and film guests and 35 comic guests thats about 35% :-)

 

 

sorry we will get it up to 40% so we are legal next year :-) sorry just having a bit of fun :-)

 

jason

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Reading through posts (not picking out anyone in particular but in general), its beginning to feel very us and them... almost Upper Class (Diamond and gold) & the very lowly lower class of standard entrance. I completely agree that DP &GP pay for everything they get & deserve priority, have no issue with this at all but standard attendees also pay alot of money & deserve to get what they paid for too & enjoy the event too.

It's not okay to miss out on photoshoot that you have paid for just because you couldn't also afford GP to get you through quicker. There seems to be some insinuation in some posts (not SM) that if you were a real fan you would get DP or GP. I am a real fan of MJF, I brought a photoshoot and was delighted with that. It doesn't mean I am less of a fan than people that brought a DP, just that I have a different budget!

As I said, I have absolutely no issue with DP & GP & what they get....but I do have an issue with being marginalised or looked down on for being standard entry. I paid more for this con than any other I have ever attended & we help make it all happen too & deserve to enjoy it as much as anyone else!

Just thoughts...

 

 

 

its so not a class thing many people that have diamond passes have put everything they can into the ticket and the weekend i know this for shore , Dimond passes are people that want to be guaranteed to get what they have wanted for a very long time and are happy to help make it posable for it to happen for the show and for themselves , it is totally nothing to do with class or money , gold also are big collectors and some spend there money on these passes and autographs instead of a holiday as thats what they prefer , again is not a class thing or a money thing , we look out for all fans out there and that goes to the hart of what we are here at showmasters and is our ethos not everyone here is well off or has always had money so we look out and do the best we can for the masses not the few , but it has to be fare for everyone and diamonds and golds to help us give things away to everyone to enjoy

 

jason

 

I understand completely the need for different passes. My post was in no way a swipe at Showmasters (as I said in the above quotet) but just a general feeling I had got from some posts on here. We are all fans, all in it together. The amount of money a standard ticket holder spends is still alot and they still deserve to have as good a time as everyone else . I think that was being missed in some cases/opinions thats all. :)

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Oh dear as a Customer Service Manager myself reading some of your responses Jason to customers concerns and issues is making me cringe!

 

All customers concerns and issues are valid and you have to keep your own personal thoughts and feelings out of your responses as otherwise they come across as being very defensive, arrogant and unprofessional.

 

If you keep on doing that you will only alienate your customer base and start losing attendees because of it.

 

 

well i am sorry for you if this makes you cringe ? i am me , i am a person doing me best and trying to be honest and upfront on a forum that is full on real people and anonymous people that can say what they like be it real or fiction , there are people that are happy and there are people that are not and not talking to them or giving them some slick spin is not what we are.

 

I could toe the corporate line and not respond or i could do what most big companies do where they do not have a forum to talk so they do not have to respond to the public feedback ?

 

We can have a place like this that maybe is a bit like the wild west but its real , we have to enforce things from time to time but its a place for us to listen and learn which is more than a lot of companies.

 

You can say what you like The Doctor 6 but i am saying this from the hart and i say it how it is , also i have worked for 15 years to build our events up to what they are today with all the people on here helping us and backing us and encouraging us to keep on building it to the show it is today ,if people were not behind what we do we would not have sold out 2 weeks before the show when we have booked more space then ever before so the 10s of 1000s of people that do not feel the need to come on here as they liked what we put on seem to support us by buying tickets and the people on here ether want to help us learn or they are unhappy and want to tell us why they are unhappy so i think this is a good thing to do.

 

what dose everyone say is it good to be talking tonight and last night and be able to lean and understand from each other however raw it may be or how ever it might make a Customer Service Manager cringe ?

 

we care , we do our best, we are open to new things , we learn from my mistakes , is any of this a bad thing ? oh yes and i love what we managed to do together the fans and the crew its quite amazing :-)

 

jason

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Reading through posts (not picking out anyone in particular but in general), its beginning to feel very us and them... almost Upper Class (Diamond and gold) & the very lowly lower class of standard entrance. I completely agree that DP &GP pay for everything they get & deserve priority, have no issue with this at all but standard attendees also pay alot of money & deserve to get what they paid for too & enjoy the event too.

It's not okay to miss out on photoshoot that you have paid for just because you couldn't also afford GP to get you through quicker. There seems to be some insinuation in some posts (not SM) that if you were a real fan you would get DP or GP. I am a real fan of MJF, I brought a photoshoot and was delighted with that. It doesn't mean I am less of a fan than people that brought a DP, just that I have a different budget!

As I said, I have absolutely no issue with DP & GP & what they get....but I do have an issue with being marginalised or looked down on for being standard entry. I paid more for this con than any other I have ever attended & we help make it all happen too & deserve to enjoy it as much as anyone else!

Just thoughts...

 

 

its so not a class thing many people that have diamond passes have put everything they can into the ticket and the weekend i know this for shore , Dimond passes are people that want to be guaranteed to get what they have wanted for a very long time and are happy to help make it posable for it to happen for the show and for themselves , it is totally nothing to do with class or money , gold also are big collectors and some spend there money on these passes and autographs instead of a holiday as thats what they prefer , again is not a class thing or a money thing , we look out for all fans out there and that goes to the hart of what we are here at showmasters and is our ethos not everyone here is well off or has always had money so we look out and do the best we can for the masses not the few , but it has to be fare for everyone and diamonds and golds to help us give things away to everyone to enjoy

 

jason

 

I understand completely the need for different passes. My post was in no way a swipe at Showmasters (as I said in the above quotet) but just a general feeling I had got from some posts on here. We are all fans, all in it together. The amount of money a standard ticket holder spends is still alot and they still deserve to have as good a time as everyone else . I think that was being missed in some cases/opinions thats all. :)

 

 

 

we are cool i was just pointing out whats in our heads on this matter ok :-)

 

j \

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The only thing I would say is that I can't get Fridays off (I'm a teacher) so I'm likely to miss out on any guests who can only make that day.

 

I will be attending with my sis and her boyfriend (he's a teacher so won't be able to get Friday off!) I think big guests will always do the Saturday anyway and I doubt many guests will just do Friday only. It's probably just as well I will only be attending 2 days as I don't think I have the physical stamina to cope with more than that!

 

 

If you look at the signing days there were a few this year that only did Friday

 

 

The event is open until 8pm, so time for a visit after work :)

 

 

 

I finish work at 5pm in Nottingham! I guess people who live local could do that

 

Agreed.love the way some people on here think everybody lives in london when most of us don't. :rolleyes: I would love to pop in after work but catching a train from Birmingham would leave me with 10 minutes at the venue.

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Reading through posts (not picking out anyone in particular but in general), its beginning to feel very us and them... almost Upper Class (Diamond and gold) & the very lowly lower class of standard entrance. I completely agree that DP &GP pay for everything they get & deserve priority, have no issue with this at all but standard attendees also pay alot of money & deserve to get what they paid for too & enjoy the event too.

 

It's not okay to miss out on photoshoot that you have paid for just because you couldn't also afford GP to get you through quicker. There seems to be some insinuation in some posts (not SM) that if you were a real fan you would get DP or GP. I am a real fan of MJF, I brought a photoshoot and was delighted with that. It doesn't mean I am less of a fan than people that brought a DP, just that I have a different budget!

 

As I said, I have absolutely no issue with DP & GP & what they get....but I do have an issue with being marginalised or looked down on for being standard entry. I paid more for this con than any other I have ever attended & we help make it all happen too & deserve to enjoy it as much as anyone else!

 

Just thoughts...

 

 

its so not a class thing many people that have diamond passes have put everything they can into the ticket and the weekend i know this for shore , Dimond passes are people that want to be guaranteed to get what they have wanted for a very long time and are happy to help make it posable for it to happen for the show and for themselves , it is totally nothing to do with class or money , gold also are big collectors and some spend there money on these passes and autographs instead of a holiday as thats what they prefer , again is not a class thing or a money thing , we look out for all fans out there and that goes to the hart of what we are here at showmasters and is our ethos not everyone here is well off or has always had money so we look out and do the best we can for the masses not the few , but it has to be fare for everyone and diamonds and golds to help us give things away to everyone to enjoy

 

jason

Thank you for your points Jason.

So to make it fair for everyone to meet their guest, are you going to cap the number of diamond and gold passes sold?

All the best

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Ask people to be a bit more considerate about their bloody rucksacks! You could have hidden a child in some of the oversized sacks gleefully swaying on the shoulders of several attendees that quite literally smacked every single person they walked past. As a veteran con-goer I realise people may bring many treasures to get signed (and probably are carrying several litres of water, camera, folder for photos/autos etc) but my 8 year old was clinging to me after repeatedly getting hit in the head by gigantic bags.

In busy areas please take them off and hold them, wear them on your front, or, at least, on both shoulders to stop them swinging about! It's a simple courtesy that could make the busiest areas a bit more bearable.

Edited by madgick1
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I came away feeling extremely disappointed from this weekend. I have been attending for a few years and this was the first year I had the money to spend on photoshoots with guests. Whilst I was able to make all of them, they were incredible unorganised.

 

The venue as a whole felt far to small for everything that was crammed in. There were far to many stalls selling the same things, there were no seating areas at all. I was with my grandmother who was really excited about this weekend, as was my grandfather as he was meeting Robert Englund, and there was no where they could take a rest. If they stopped for a second you got a crew member coming over shouting for you to move!

 

My husband was grabbed twice my crew members on the Saturday, the second time he was just walking back in, he had already shown his stamp to another member of staff but he was then grabbed via his back pack and pulled backwards by another member of staff almost resulting in him falling over. This is unacceptable. He then lost his oyster card that day, found one of the floor and proceeded to pick it up to see if it was his, but before he could even look the Gainsevents lady on the door snatched it from his hands! I understand its a stressful time but can we at least have people with social skills, who also don't shout in your face or manhandle you?!

 

 

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The only thing I would say is that I can't get Fridays off (I'm a teacher) so I'm likely to miss out on any guests who can only make that day.

 

I will be attending with my sis and her boyfriend (he's a teacher so won't be able to get Friday off!) I think big guests will always do the Saturday anyway and I doubt many guests will just do Friday only. It's probably just as well I will only be attending 2 days as I don't think I have the physical stamina to cope with more than that!

 

 

If you look at the signing days there were a few this year that only did Friday

 

 

The event is open until 8pm, so time for a visit after work :)

 

 

 

I finish work at 5pm in Nottingham! I guess people who live local could do that

 

Agreed.love the way some people on here think everybody lives in london when most of us don't. :rolleyes: I would love to pop in after work but catching a train from Birmingham would leave me with 10 minutes at the venue.

 

 

Some people DON'T think everyone lives in London. It was a sharing of info for people who might not be aware of how late the event goes on (other SM events finish at 6pm, for instance). I don't know where everyone lives, so it's up to the person to read it and think "I did know that, thanks - but I live in X, so can't benefit" or "I didn't know that - sounds great, but I can't use it as I live too far away". No need for a chip on a shoulder. Yes, some of us live in London, but we pay through the nose for the "privilege" ;-)

 

But short of people who are limited like teachers in not being able to take holiday when they want to, it is possible to take a half day as annual leave. I do live in London, but I purposely saved a day's holiday so I could go on a quieter day. Totally worth losing a day's holiday, so I could avoid the huge weekend queues!

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